May 26

On Easter while Linda had the boys in a photo taking mood and me with the camera she wanted pictures with each of them.

Mom and Kieran

She almost couldn't convince Kieran to pose

Mom and Owen

Owen knows how to strike a pose

Mom and Declan

Declan's always ready for a picture

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May 25

Easter was not a huge to do this year.  Just a very nice meal enjoyed by a happy family.  That’s enough isn’t it?

Easter Dinner

Owen appears to be very happy about the dinner Mom made for Easter

Here’s the centerpiece Linda created for the dining room.

Easter Centerpiece

Candles, flowers, and eggs - the colored and the peanut butter kind

It’s not often that all of us guys put on something that isn’t a t-shirt.  So when it happens there must be a picture.

All Dressed Up For Easter

Family photo from Easter 2011

Thanks to this picture I finally replaced the old banner image for this site.  This one is much better.  Hope you had a nice Easter.

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Jun 24

Last Saturday, the day before Father’s Day, Linda worked all day.  So the boys and I went into Dexter to visit her in the late afternoon.  We finally got a chance to visit Warrior Creek Park which is right behind the Dexter District Library.  After that we went to the Dexter Pub for a Father’s Day dinner, just a little early.  A nice day in a nice place with the family!

Declan Sticking it to the Creek

Declan spent most of his time in the park trying to throw sticks into Mill Creek

Kieran & Owen on the Playground

Kieran and Owen preferred to play on the playground equipment

Declan's Feather

Declan was excited to find a feather

Dexter District Library From the Park

This is the Dexter District Library from the park

Mill Creek Winding Through Dexter

Mill Creek winds through the park behind the Dexter library

Owen's Puppet Show

Owen put on a brief puppet show for Declan and I at the library

Twin Trouble

Owen and Declan hamming it up in the park

Ground Hog

Linda spotted this little critter walking along the woods in the park. I think it's a ground hog.

Kieran Airborn

Kieran jumping off the swing - caught in midair

Jun 01

The Memorial Day weekend was full of work on the gardens.  We did take Sunday off for a welcome visit with some family that we haven’t seen in a long time.

Saturday while Linda spent eight hours working at the library, I spent about three or four with my hands covered in mud sealing up the gaps beneath the garden beds.  That’s mostly done.  I had to quit when one of my nails tore rather badly.  I guess they were getting soft after being wet for so long.

Monday was a day full of dirt.  Specifically new dirt.  Kieran and I headed off to Lowes and loaded up a cart with 25 bags of top soil.  That was only part of what we needed, but I didn’t think the cart would hold any more.  When we got it to the van I decided I should probably check the vehicle’s maximum hauling capacity.  Turns out it’s 1200 pounds.  So with 1000 pounds of top soil plus the two of us we were there.  In the end it took five trip to Lowes to get everthing.  Kieran and I moved just over two tons of material back to our place.  We had quite a thunderstorm during the second trip so that delayed us for a while.

While Kieran and I were hauling material home, Linda was putting some of it into the first garden bed.  Unfortunately, it started to rain again in the evening so the bed wasn’t completed.

That first bed was finally completed today.  Linda even transplanted most of what she wanted in that bed into it.  It’s not quite all there yet, but at least there are plants in the garden!

Building Garden Beds - First Plants

Sorry the picture is dark, but I was losing daylight fast.

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May 17

So you know those Easter Egg coloring kits that you can buy in the store?  I’m sure you do.  They come with the cardboard egg holders, the little metal thingy that’s supposed to make it easier to get the eggs out of the dye water, and those dye tablets that fizz up like alka-seltzer.  Well, there has been none of that nonsense around our house for a while.

Last year Linda created dye from vegetables.  This year she used Kool-aid.  Some hot water, a little vinegar, and a packet of Kool-aid.  The unsweetened kind.

Easter Egg Kool-aid Dye

This year our Easter eggs were colored with these Kool-aid colors

Finished Easter Eggs

Here's the finished product

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May 16

Time to start catching up.  Way back in December we went to Kieran’s school for a function and it turned out that Santa was there.  This was probably announced at some point, but before we arrived I was unaware.  Oops.  So after a quick trip back home for the camera, the boys met Santa.  It was a much more laid back setting than the mall!  Owen seems completely unimpressed.

Boys With Santa At Childs

Santa came to school. I wonder if he was checking report cards.

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